


How Lovely Are Thy Branches

by lilywafiq



Series: 12 Days of Slibbs [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: 12 Days of Slibbs, Christmas, Christmas Tree, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21793804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilywafiq/pseuds/lilywafiq
Summary: Gibbs helps Jack decorate her office Christmas tree
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Series: 12 Days of Slibbs [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563154
Comments: 5
Kudos: 71
Collections: 12 Days of Slibbs





	How Lovely Are Thy Branches

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 of the 12 Days of Slibbs: Finding/Decorating a tree

Gibbs stopped in the doorway of Jack’s office, wondering if he should announce himself or wait and see if she’d notice him. She was stood in the middle of the office, barefoot, arms crossed across her chest, staring at a bare Christmas tree. There were a few boxes of decorations scattered around her feet, some tinsel strewn haphazardly across the floor, and Gibbs couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Need some help? He finally asked, stepping up behind her.

Jack jumped slightly, and turned to glare at Gibbs. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she admonished.

“I don’t sneak.”

Jack swatted him on the chest before turning back to the tree. “I don’t know if I want to go with a particular colour scheme or just throw whatever I want on it.”

Gibbs cast his eye around Jack’s office, taking in the assortment of art and colour, before looking down at the boxes of decorations. He looked back up at Jack who was watching him curiously.

“Close your eyes,” Gibbs said.

“What are you planning?”

“Just do it, Jack.”

Jack closed her eyes, and Gibbs picked up the box closest to him. Holding it carefully in front of Jack, he took one of her hands and guided it to the box. “Pick something.”

Jack, eyes still closed, rummaged in the box before pulling out one item. She opened her eyes to see what she had picked. It was a silver star, decorated with flecks of blue. It looked handmade, and Gibbs wondered what the story was behind it.

“Start with that one,” he said, “Put it somewhere.”

Jack smiled, and turned to the tree, placing the star carefully on a higher branch. “This was given to me by the daughter of man I helped get through some pretty bad PTSD,” she said as she looked at it on the tree. “She made it for me to say ‘thank you’.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Close your eyes again.”

“Gibbs. I can do this by myself.”

Gibbs just raised an eyebrow and waited for Jack to close her eyes again. When she did, he held out the box again, and helped her pick another decoration.

“Oh, I’d forgotten about this one!” Jack said happily when she opened her eyes. She held it out to show Gibbs. It was a bauble that had her name on it in glitter. “My best friend in elementary school gave this to me one year.” She turned and added it to the tree.

Gibbs held out the box, and Jack closed her eyes, picking out another.

This continued until the tree was covered in the most random assortment of decorations Gibbs had ever seen, each one accompanied by a short story and a memory. What had started as a simple job of helping Jack decorate had turned into a walk down memory lane for her, and a learning experience for him. He liked to think he already knew her well, but by the time the tree was decorated, he knew even more about her and her life experiences, and he relished every new bit of information she shared.

They stood back and admired the tree when they’d finished, and Jack leant back against Gibbs’ chest. 

“Thank you,” she said.

“Any time,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her. 

“I think it looks perfect,” Jack continued before turning in Gibbs’ arms to give him a gentle kiss. “Seriously, thank you.”

“It’s all you, Jack.”

“But you have a way of…” she paused, thinking over her next words. “A way of making sense of things.”

Gibbs leant down to kiss her again. 

“Dinner tonight?” Jack asked when they pulled apart.

“I have something I need to work on,” Gibbs replied with some regret. 

“Better not be that boat,” Jack replied, half joking.

Gibbs gave her a wry smile. “Not the boat, no.”

“Something important?”

“Yeah.”

“Tomorrow night then?”

“Definitely.”

When Jack entered her office the next morning, there was something waiting on her desk. She sat down and picked it up. Whatever it was was wrapped in tissue paper, and on the top was a folded note. She opened that first, recognising the scrawl immediately.

_One more memory to add to your tree._

Smiling, she unwrapped the gift. It was a wooden cowboy ornament, obviously hand carved, and her smile grew wider. She got up and headed over to the tree, finding the perfect spot and hanging the decoration.

“Now it’s perfect,” said Gibbs from behind her.

She playfully swatted at his chest. “Told you not to sneak up on me.”

“Told you I don’t sneak.”

“Thank you, I love it.”

Jack relaxed back into Gibbs as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. 

“This was your ‘something important’ from last night?”

Gibbs hummed in agreement, and Jack felt it rumble through her.

“I’ll cherish it forever,” she said.

**Author's Note:**

> Are all my stories gonna be sickly sweet? Probably.
> 
> [find me on tumblr](http://spacecowboybriony.tumblr.com)


End file.
